Trump Requests Release of Epstein Grand Jury Files—What Now?
Signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the motion comes amid a frenzied media storm and calls for transparency regarding the Epstein files, fueled by the release of a memo from the DOJ and FBI earlier this month, which refuted various conspiracy theories that continue to loom large. There are also persistent questions about the history of Trump and Epstein's relationship, as the two previously socialized.
Trump spoke out about the grand jury request once more via Truth Social on Saturday morning.
"I have asked the Justice Department to release all grand jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, subject only to court approval," he said. "With that being said, and even if the court gave its full and unwavering approval, nothing will be good enough for the troublemakers and radical left lunatics making the request. It will always be more, more, more."
Trump's instruction regarding the grand jury files is unlikely to settle the calls for more transparency, as he has not ordered the release of the DOJ files pertaining to Epstein, which are the documents that many—including prominent voices within the MAGA community—are eager to see.
Trump has strongly defended Bondi as she continues to come under fire for not releasing the Epstein files in full. There are long-standing calls to see a so-called "client list" supposedly belonging to Epstein. (Although the recently-released memo reports there's no evidence such a list exists.) Bondi's previous release of some files were heavily redacted and informed the public of little they had not learned before, prompting wide backlash.
A letter sent on Friday by Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic whip and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to the heads of the DOJ and FBI also alleges that the FBI instructed agents to 'flag' any mention of Trump while reviewing files related to Epstein earlier this year.
Following the Trump Administration's request for the release of the Epstein grand jury records, here's what you need to know about what happens next.
What is a grand jury and why are the files sealed?
A grand jury consists of 16-23 jurors, according to the U.S. Courts. A grand jury "focuses on preliminary criminal matters only" and seeks to determine whether there is enough 'probable cause' to indict an individual under investigation for a crime. Grand jury proceedings are usually kept sealed to protect the safety of individuals investigated who, it may turn out, will not be charged with any crime. The private proceedings are also used to ensure the safety of witnesses who provide testimonies.
'Secrecy prevents those under scrutiny from fleeing or importuning the grand jurors, encourages full disclosure by witnesses, and protects the innocent from unwarranted prosecution, among other things,' reads an explanation by Congress.
Congress also notes that grand jury proceedings have, on occasion, been unsealed for matters of public interest. In 2018, a D.C. court ruled to unseal certain dockets related to independent counsel Ken Starr's investigation into former President Bill Clinton's relationship with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Read More: Why Trump Can't Put Out the Epstein Fire He Helped Ignite
Why has the Department of Justice made a motion to unseal the grand jury transcripts?
The DOJ's motion follows mass calls—from both within and outside Trump's MAGA base—for transparency around the investigation into Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Tensions were exacerbated on Thursday when the Wall Street Journal published an article claiming that in 2003, Trump wrote a birthday letter for Epstein which included a drawing of a naked woman and the signature 'Donald.' The article claimed the letter included the note: 'Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.'
Trump has called the letter false, saying he '[doesn't] draw pictures.' He has responded by suing the Journal's publisher Dow Jones and NewsCorp's owner Rupert Murdoch.
"We have just filed a powerhouse lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS 'article' in the useless 'rag' that is, the Wall Street Journal," Trump said on Friday evening. "This historic legal action is being brought against the so-called authors of this defamation, the now fully disgraced WSJ, as well as its corporate owners and affiliates, with Rupert Murdoch and Robert Thomson (whatever his role is) at the top of the list."
Meanwhile, the grand jury-related motion filed on Friday calls for the Epstein documents to be unsealed due to the 'public interest' that shows no signs of waning, though it says that they will continue to redact 'victim-related and other personal identifying information' from said documents.
The request also called for the release of transcripts related to the indictment and conviction of former British socialite—and Epstein's right-hand—Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors.
'[T]his Court should conclude that the Epstein and Maxwell cases qualify as a matter of public interest, release the associated grand jury transcripts, and lift any preexisting protective orders,' the motion reads.
Who decides whether the grand jury files are released and how long could it be until a decision is reached?
According to Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the secrecy of grand jury proceedings is generally protected, but there are authorized disclosures of certain documents if it is deemed to be legally justifiable.
The request must now be approved with permission of the federal court responsible for overseeing the criminal case, and since both Maxwell and Epstein's cases were in New York City, it will likely be a New York-based federal judge who receives the request for the files to be released.
The scope of the grand jury testimonials is unclear, and as the DOJ noted in its motion, the courts will have to consider the privacy of victims named in the testimony and will need to consult with any uncharged people named. All in all, the process could take weeks, months, or longer.
Read More: White House Tries to End Trump's Role in Epstein Saga, Nixes Calls For Special Prosecuto
How has the Department of Justice previously argued against the release of the Epstein files?
There have long been efforts to gain access to sealed documents related to the Epstein case. In 2017, entertainment website Radar Online sued the FBI for sealed documents related to the case under the Freedom of Information Act.
Career federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, filed a declaration in 2024 in which she argued that the Epstein documents could "reasonably be expected to interfere" with Maxwell's pending appeal, since it could impact multiple aspects of the case. Following this declaration, a Federal District Court upheld the secrecy for the majority of the files.
Comey was fired earlier this week as a U.S. federal prosecutor, after serving as one of the lead prosecutors in the cases against Epstein and Maxwell, as well as in the recent trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs. Some lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, have raised questions over Comey's firing.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
22 minutes ago
- New York Post
Democrats self-own bragging about inflation shows the left has learned NOTHING
Everybody makes mistakes. Not everyone makes the same mistakes over and over again. Last week, the geniuses in charge of maintaining the Democratic Party's social media picked at a fresh wound — and showed, again, exactly why it lost the 2024 election. The blue team's official X account shared a line chart showing the change in the price of various groceries — meat, dairy, produce, etc. — over time, and asserting that 'prices are higher today than they were on [sic] July 2024.' 'Trump's America,' read the caption. The problem? The last part of the line barely went up. The blue team's official X account, with the caption 'Trump's America,' shared a chart showing the change in the price of various groceries, asserting that 'prices are higher today than they were on [sic] July 2024.' Eric Daugherty, /X And what it actually showed was a massive increase in prices between 2021 and 2024. In other words: over the course of former President Joe Biden's White House tenure. 'I would just advise Democrats not to post about inflation given their track record,' suggested conservative influencer A.G. Hamilton. 'Might save them the embarrassment of having to delete their posts after getting dunked on' — which is exactly what they did. 'This is the gang that couldn't shoot straight!' marveled Fox Business host Stuart Varney. And of course Team Trump got in on the action. The problem with the chart was that it actually showed a massive increase in prices between 2021 and 2024 – when Biden was president. RapidResponse47/X What's notable about the braindead blunder, though, is not the blunder itself. It was that it represented yet another admission, eight and a half months after they surrendered the presidency to Donald Trump for the second time in three election cycles, that the Democrats still haven't made a sincere effort at diagnosing the reasons for their unpopularity — much less addressing them. A new Wall Street Journal poll found that their party continues to suffer as a result — to the point that just 33% of Americans hold a favorable view of it, and 63% view it unfavorably. Both Donald Trump (-7) and the GOP (-11) are also underwater, but may as well be polling as well as ice cream compared to the Democrats. The same holds true of the public's view of various issues; voters still trust the GOP more than the alternative when it comes to the economy, inflation, immigration and foreign policy. If that doesn't wake Democrats up to the provenance of all their political pain, nothing will. The Left has long relied on comforting fallacies to numb the discomfort that accompanies defeat. After 2016, elected Democrats and their media allies insisted that Trump's shocking victory was only possible thanks to Russian meddling. And now, they're laboring under the misimpression that return to power can be attributed to Republicans' superior, but decepting messaging — an almost supernatural ability to compel Americans to believe that which isn't so. If only they could convince the public of the truth, they'd surely prevail. But the cold, hard truth is that it's always been about the substance, stupid — as the unflattering data they so proudly shared last week demonstrates. Kamala Harris was deposited into the dustbin of history because she was the top lieutenant in an administration that had proven a miserable failure long before her boss's implosion last summer. Americans spent the entirety of the Biden years telling pollsters that their lives were demonstrably, palpably worse as a result of historic price hikes. Biden & Co. responded to these pleas for relief by denying the existence of inflation until they couldn't any longer. Then, when they finally did implicitly admit to the effects of the nearly $2 trillion boondoggle they passed in 2021, they slapped the name 'Inflation Reduction Act' on yet another profligate spending bill that every layman in America knew would only compound the problem. There are similar stories to be told about Americans' dissatisfaction with Biden's approach to foreign policy, his abdication of his duty to secure the border, and his championing of a radical social agenda that maintains up is down, left is right, and black is white. Their stubborn refusal to grapple with this incontrovertible truth is also reportedly set to be reflected in an upcoming 2024 autopsy conducted by the DNC. The New York Times reports that it will 'steer clear of the decisions made by the Biden-turned-Harris campaign,' and instead 'focus more on outside groups and super PACs that spent hundreds of millions of dollars aiding the Biden and Harris campaigns through advertising, voter registration drives and turnout efforts.' It's like watching a restaurant serving inedible food invest in new plateware. The gripe has never been with the Democrats' presentation or voters' tastes. It's with the product itself.
USA Today
22 minutes ago
- USA Today
Mike Johnson says Ghislaine Maxwell should serve 'life sentence,' opposes potential pardon
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said he believes Ghislaine Maxwell, a key associate of Jeffrey Epstein currently serving 20 years in prison for conspiring to sexually abuse minors, should face "a life sentence." "If you're asking my opinion, I think 20 years was a pittance," Johnson told NBC's Kristen Welker on "Meet the Press" July 27. "I think she should have a life sentence, at least." His remarks to NBC come as many, including supporters of President Donald Trump, clamor for testimony from Maxwell. Some followers of the case have proposed a pardon in exchange, but Trump told reporters on July 25 he hadn't considered the move. "I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about," the president said. Epstein was charged with sexually trafficking minors and died by suicide while in detention in 2019. Maxwell, his longtime girlfriend, has been accused of recruiting minors for the disgraced financier's predation. Maxwell maintains her innocence and is appealing her 2021 sex-trafficking conviction. Johnson in his interview with NBC reiterated that pardons aren't up to him, telling the outlet, "obviously that's a decision of the president." "I won't get it in front of him," Johnson said. "That's not my lane." But, later in the interview he noted, "It's hard to put into words how evil this was, and that she orchestrated it and was a big part of it." "So, again, not my decision," he added, "but I have great pause about that, as any reasonable person would." The Trump administration for weeks has faced backlash over its handling of Epstein's case. Critics from Democratic lawmakers to prominent Republicans and slices of Trump's voter base accuse the president and other officials of not being transparent with the American people. The speaker has faced his own ongoing Epstein-related criticism, as some House Republicans have zeroed in on the Justice Department's recent review of Epstein's case and are calling for related documents to be released publicly. Democrats in Congress have piled on too. Reps. Ro Khanna, D-California, and Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, introduced a bipartisan measure to force the Trump administration's hand in releasing the federal government's files. Also on "Meet The Press," the pair split on pardoning Maxwell. "That would be up to the president," Massie said. "But if she has information that could help us, then I think she should testify. Let's get that out there. And whatever they need to do to compel that testimony, as long as it's truthful, I would be in favor of." Khanna disagreed, saying Maxwell shouldn't receive a pardon. "Look, I agree with Congressman Massie that she should testify," the California Democrat said. "But she's been indicted twice on perjury. This is why we need the files. This is why we need independent evidence." Contributing: Bart Jansen and Aysha Bagchi, USA TODAY
The Hill
22 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump insists Hamas is stealing food amid Gaza hunger crisis
President Trump on Sunday said Hamas is stealing food that was meant for people in Gaza, telling reporters multiple times that goods are being stolen when pressed on the hunger crisis in the region. The president, while sitting next to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland, was asked for his response to the images of starving children in Gaza. 'When I see the children and when I see, especially over the last couple of weeks people are stealing the food, they're stealing the money, they're stealing the money for the food. They're stealing weapons, they're stealing everything,' the president said. He added, 'It's a mess, that whole place is a mess. The Gaza strip, you know it was given many years ago so they could have peace. That didn't work out too well.' The Israeli military has reported that there is no proof that the Palestinian militant group had systematically stolen aid. Earlier on Sunday, Israel's military said it will start a 'tactical pause' in fighting in Gaza amid mass starvation concerns. Trump said he spoke recently with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding, 'I talked to him about a lot of things. I talked to him about Iran.' He said the U.S. would send more aid into Gaza and pressed other nations to contribute as well, suggesting that would be part of his conversation with der Leyen. And, he reiterated the claims about Hamas stealing food. 'It's not a U.S. problem, it's an international problem,' Trump said on Gaza. 'If we weren't there. I think people would have starved, frankly. They would have starved, and it's not like they're eating well, but a lot of that food is getting stolen by Hamas. They're stealing the food, they're stealing a lot of things. You ship it in and they steal it, then they sell it,' he said. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also insisted that Hamas has stolen the food on NBC's 'Meet the Press' on Sunday and noted that Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., and other Israeli officials told him that Hamas has stolen 'a huge amount' of food since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023. Trump on Sunday said that the U.S. gave $60 million in aid for Gaza two weeks ago, but said that 'nobody even acknowledged it.' 'Nobody acknowledged it, nobody talks about it, and it makes you feel a little bad when you do that, and no other countries give anything,' he said. He said that Israel has to decide what happens next in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. 'What's going to happen? I don't know,' Trump said. 'Israel's going to have to make a decision. I know what I'd do but I don't think it's appropriate that I say.' The Trump administration last week said it was leaving Gaza ceasefire talks, blaming Hamas for failing to engage in good faith. Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy for peace missions, said the administration is considering alternative plans to secure the freedom of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the future governance of the territory.
